Christopher Walken has signed up to lend his voice to the reboot of The Jungle Book.

The Catch Me If You Can star is set to provide the voice of King Louie, ruler of the apes and monkeys, in Disney's upcoming live action and animation blend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Also joining the project is Breaking Bad actor Giancarlo Esposito, who will voice Akela, the head of a pack of wolves.

Christopher and Giancarlo are joining an all-star voice cast which includes Sir Ben Kingsley as the black panther Bagheera, Idris Elba as the villainous tiger Shere Khan, Lupita Nyong'o as the mother wolf Raksha, and Scarlett Johansson as the python Kaa.

The only actor who will appear on screen is newcomer Neel Sethi who will play the lead role of Mowgli, the little boy who meets the jungle creatures.

Disney's Jungle Book is being directed by Jon Favreau and is due to be released in 3D on October 16, 2015. Meanwhile, another version of the Rudyard Kipling tale which is completely live action is in the works at Warner Bros and is being directed by Planet Of The Apes star Andy Serkis.

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